Friday, February 26, 2010

I wasn't sure if I would even get to do any training today. Nothing was testing well. Sumo deadlifts were the only thing that tested really well, and with kettlebells, not a barbell. The last time I did Sumos with two 24 kg kettlebells (106 pounds) I complete 88 reps in 10 minutes. Today:

After the DL, I tested more drills and got nadda, so I did some 10 lb. pinch plate curls. It was weird to call it a day after that, but I have to say, I feel good. There is joy in listening to my body.

Two-hand Swing - 28 kg (62 lbs) - 10 minutes220 reps = 13,640 lbs.-I do not know how in the world I got in 15 reps more than the last time I did 28 kg swings. Yet, it didn't feel like I was pushing myself. (PR)

VooDoo VooDoo ;)

Today I moved 20,038 lbs. in 25 minutes of work time. It felt great, but more importantly, it was fun!

After deadlifting, I retested between cleans and presses. I thought presses might test better after the deadlifting. Wrong. My body wanted to do cleans. So, I tested single and double cleans. Doubles tested better.

Double Cleans - 16 kgs = 70 lbs.150 reps = 10,500 lbs.-I really worked on keeping my neck relaxed. That meant keeping my spine in neutral position. It's amazing how much easier the reps are when I do this. I need to keep this in mind every time I work presses as well. (or most drills for that matter)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Today I decided to use a lateral arm raise for my testing rather than the toe touch. It's a bit tricky to determine if my reach is better using the toe touch when I hit palms flat to the floor. The lateral arm raise gave me better feedback, meaning there was a noticeable difference between my baseline and drills that tested well and drills that tested poorly.

Sumo deadlifts tested the best, followed by inchworms, and presses.

Sumo Deadlift - 48 kgs (106 lbs.) - 10 minutes88 reps = 9328 lbs.-On Monday I pulled 5805 lbs. in 10 minutes doing regular DL with a bar. Another improvement I noticed was that today I went 10 reps before I sensed a change. All of my sets were sets of 10, except for one set of 8.

Inchworms - 4 sets of 20 yard lengths-I only did four sets because my ROM wasn't coming back after a couple minutes.

I retested presses and realized I was done. So I did some pinch grip work to finish.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Another day. Another snow day in Iowa. The weather kept me off the road again, so I couldn't get to the gym where I keep my large bells. Time to improvise. I went to the local high school to train because they have free weights and a few kettlebells. The largest bells they have are 20 kg and I could only find one 16 kg.

I started by testing my goal drills: press, squat, deadlift, snatch, swing, pullup. I purposely tested them in a different order so I could see if the order of testing has anything to do with my ROM and tension feedback. Press, deadlift, and swings tested well. Deadlift the best. My body must really want to deadlift. Those puppies test well every training session.

Deadlift - 135 lbs. - 10 minutes 43 reps = 5805 lbs.-Friday, I didn't time myself, and I did 35 reps (4725 lbs.) during deadlift. (I think I went about 12 minutes.) That means today I moved over 1000 lbs. more in two minutes less time. Hello! PR.-Also, on Friday I did sets of four and three. Today I did mostly sets of five, a set of six, and a few of four.

Double Press - two 12 kgs bells (52 lbs.) - 10 minutes52 reps = 2704 lbs.-The last time I did presses, I did 41 reps and most of my sets were of four. Today, most of my sets were of five. I'm also feeling less tension in my neck when pressing.

One-Hand Swings - 20 kg (44 lbs) - 10 minutes240 reps = 10,560 lbs.-I would have used two 16 kg bells, but I could only find one. I didn't move as much weight as when I use a 28 kg (62 lbs) bell, but I came pretty close.

Friday, February 12, 2010

After a crazy busy week, I was unsure how my body would respond to training. My CNS is tapped for sure. I went in with an open mind and a willingness to test and act. I can't overthink my training. I just need to do it.

Tactical Pullups (palms away, no thumb grip, hands shoulder width)-I used a jumpstretch band to aid me, so I'm unable to put down a weight amount. I would guesstimate I moved about 3100 pounds if I pulled 100 pounds per rep. That's probably a bit conservative-31 reps in 10 minutes

Deadlift - 135 lbs. (bar and plates)-35 reps = 4725 lbs. moved-I didn't time these. I just went until my ROM tested poorly. My guess is it took me 12 minutes or so.-I haven't done a lot of bar DLs, so I have many, many reps ahead of me to find my optimal grip and stance as well as set up. So while this doesn't look like much for weight, it is a big step for me.

Swings - 28 kg (62 lbs)-205 reps in 10 minutes = 12,710 pounds-On Wednesday I completed 170 reps in 10 minutes. What's that? Did someone say PR? And this was on a day I was feel a bit blah about training. Crazy!!

All I left was piles of kettlebell shards. I tore em up! This was accomplished in less than 30 minutes of work time.

I tested presses, squats, deadlift, snatches, and pullups. The deads and presses tested the best today. After those I wanted to burn more calories, so I tested crab walks, inchworms, and swings. Swings rocked my biofeedback world. I set the Gymboss for 10 minutes and started swinging. For my first set, I did 20 reps. Then I did 15 rep sets, one 10 rep set, and finished with a 20 rep set. That last set was my best one.

Monday, February 1, 2010

My training is really on a roll. When I compare last Monday's training to today's, it is a little overwhelming to realize how much more weight I'm moving around with ease (relatively). I've never made progress this fast.

Circuit - 8 RoundsDbl Cleans - two 16 kgs - 8 repsDbl Clean & Press - two 12 kgs - 6 repsDbl Squat - two 12 kgs - 5 reps20 seconds rest between drills and roundsRPE - 8-My cleans and C & P tested well, so I did those as scheduled. The squats tested better with a narrow stance, so that's what I did.-Last week I did this same circuit for 6 rounds. When I saw that Brad wanted me to do 8 rounds, I was skeptical. When I got going, each round got better.

I finished with a little snatching - 160 reps in 10 minutes is all.

Snatches - 16 kg - 10 x 8 L, RRest 30 seconds between setsRPE - 8-Last week I did 15 rounds of 12 L, R w/ the 12 kg bell. It's hard to compare the two sessions. However, the 12 kg bells have a tendency to cause more problems with my hands. I think it's because the handle isn't as thick as on the 16 kg and I end up gripping more with my hand than with my fingers.